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Does fibreglass (grp) conduct electricity?

Does fibreglass (grp) conduct electricity?
Does not conduct
fibreglass (GRP)

An insulator — the reason electricians' ladders and hot-stick tools are fibreglass and not aluminium.

How it compares

Percentage of the International Annealed Copper Standard. Silver is the only element above 100.
Material Conducts? % of copper
silver Conducts electricity 105%
copper Conducts electricity 100%
gold Conducts electricity 70%
aluminum Conducts electricity 61%
aluminum 6061 Conducts electricity 43%
magnesium Conducts electricity 39%
aluminum 7075 Conducts electricity 33%
tungsten Conducts electricity 31%
brass Conducts electricity 28%
zinc Conducts electricity 27%
nickel Conducts electricity 24%
iron Conducts electricity 17%
platinum Conducts electricity 16%
tin Conducts electricity 15%
bronze Conducts electricity 15%
chromium Conducts electricity 13%
wrought iron Conducts electricity 12%
tin-lead solder (60/40) Conducts electricity 12%
lead-free solder (SAC305) Conducts electricity 11%
mild steel Conducts electricity 10%
pewter Conducts electricity 10%
high-carbon steel Conducts electricity 9%
lead Conducts electricity 8%
tool steel Conducts electricity 7%
tungsten carbide Conducts electricity 5%
gray cast iron Conducts electricity 4%
ductile iron Conducts electricity 4%
Monel 400 Conducts electricity 3.5%
titanium Conducts electricity 3%
stainless steel 304 Conducts electricity 2.5%
stainless steel 316 Conducts electricity 2.3%
mercury Conducts electricity 2%
Inconel 718 Conducts electricity 1.4%
Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy Conducts electricity 1%
unidirectional carbon fibre composite Conducts electricity 1%
graphite Conducts electricity 0.1%

The ones that surprise people

  • Diamond is an electrical insulator and simultaneously the best thermal conductor known — about five times better than copper at moving heat. Structure decides both, not composition.
  • Graphite is the same element as diamond and conducts electricity well, because its layered structure leaves one electron per atom free to move.
  • Carbon fibre conducts. People treat composites as plastic, and lightning strike protection on composite aircraft is a serious design problem because of it.
  • Pure water is an insulator. Tap water conducts because of dissolved ions — the hazard is what is in the water, not the water.
  • Air is an excellent insulator until roughly 3 kV per millimetre, at which point it ionises and conducts. That is what a spark is.

Common questions

Does fibreglass (grp) conduct electricity?
Does not conduct. An insulator — the reason electricians' ladders and hot-stick tools are fibreglass and not aluminium.

Related pages

Sources

  1. Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SP 811) — NIST (Public domain (US Government))

How these figures are compiled and checked